Former Japan PM meets Korean 'comfort women'

SEOUL (AFP) - Mr Tomiichi Murayama, the former Japanese prime minister known for his 1995 apology over wartime aggression, met on Tuesday with three South Korean "comfort women" who served as sex slaves to Japanese troops.

"Please stay healthy," the 89-year-old ex-premier told the women as he clasped their hands at an exhibition of art works by comfort women being held in the South Korean Parliament complex in Seoul.

One of the three women, Kang Ul-Chul, told Mr Murayama through an interpreter that the Japanese government should apologise properly to the former sex slaves and provide compensation.

They also presented him with one of the artworks, titled "Flower destroyed unbloomed".